Employee Engagement can make all the difference!
To win in the marketplace, you must first win in the workplace.– Doug Conant, CEO- Campbell’s Soup.
As an Entrepreneur, there are probably these important questions on your mind:
- Are my employees giving 100%?
- Are my employees committed to their jobs?
- Do your employees share the same company values?
- Do they want to come to work?
- Do they know how they contribute to your business objectives?
These questions are obvious, but the answers are more complex.
What do you think it is that keeps employees committed?
- Did you know that 7 out of 10 employees are dis-engaged, and 2 out of 10 are actually trying to sink your boat?
- Engaged employees have 51% higher productivity when compared to disengaged employees, and they outperform them by 20-28%. They are less likely to be absent from work and generate 2.5 times more revenue. On top of these benefits, it is clear that disengaged employees are far more likely to abandon their posts at the first opportunity. (Source)
- The Corporate Leadership Council has completed a study of the engagement level of 50,000 employees around the world. And found that those employees who are most committed (engaged) perform 20% better and are 87% less likely to leave the organization.
The engagement challenge is about how an employee feels about the work experience, about how he or she is treated. It has a lot to do with emotions. Research after research has concluded that employee emotions are fundamentally related to—and actually drive—bottom-line success in a company.
Small businesses often don’t have HR teams and budgets that larger organizations can afford, so employee engagement in a small business can seem like another thing to worry about for leaders who feel it’s out of reach or another demand on limited resources.
If your employee possesses a lack of interest in the organization and his/her job you’re in a spot of trouble. Not only will you be wasting valuable resources on an employee but the disengaged employee may be contagious to the organization culture and morale and demotivate other employees
A workplace is much more pleasant and engaging when the people not only know each other but are also friendly with one another. It somehow manages to lighten up an otherwise boring work environment. Engagement is not reactive but proactive. Efforts to build engagement should be on a continuum.
Organizations need to engage their employees, keep them constantly informed on the progress of the company, the competitive market conditions, the progress of the competitors, and share the financial performance of the company. The key is to be transparent, let employees know the status, and prepare them for any eventualities.
Organizations have to win the trust of their employees and establish their credibility. There is a constant struggle to win the trust and establish credibility. You can have the best of the programs but all of it can be lost in a moment if the organization does something to destroy the credibility it has built.
How to spot engaged employees?
Some tips to boost employee engagement:
1. Share a purpose-driven organizational culture focused on recognizing, rewarding, developing & motivating employees
2. Employee wellbeing is essential. Happy Employees = Happy Customers. Happy Customers = Happy Business
3. Reward plays an important part in the engagement, but only up to a point. Employees should be rewarded but not over rewarded
4. Mean it, live it, don’t ’do’ engagement to people, make it ‘the way we work around here
5. Be clear about what you expect from your employees and what they expect from you. Focus on key business outcomes for your organization
6. Stop rewarding quantity metrics (sales, productivity, output, etc) and start rewarding the business drivers – quality metrics (value generated)
7. Work towards making ‘Work as a source of Fun’. Use recreational activities, stress busters to lighten up the workplace.
VIDEO: Why Engagement Matters.
………………………….
About Author:
Mr. Ramesh Ranjan, Advisor – Farsight Technologies | Founder & Editor – Human Engineers
Mr. Ramesh has served the H.R. and Businesses for 35 Years. He is a former V.P. of H.R. in Schneider electric and worked in Indian & Multi-National Companies in various capacities, including leadership role for the last 20 years.
